Automobile top carrier and cases therefor



Oct. 5, 1965 J. L. GOODELL AUTOMOBILE TOP CARRIER AND CASES THEREFOR Filed NOV. 12, 1963 iiaiili INVENTOR. z/Ofl/VL GOODEZL n42 @ma wlm ATTORNEYS United States Patent "ice 3,209,971 AUTOMOBILE TOP CARRIER AND CASES THEREFOR John L. Goodell, Remus Point, N.Y. Filed Nov. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 322,693 8 Claims. '(Cl. 22442.1

This invention relates to luggage or cases having particular utility in connection with automatic top carriers.

The tops or roofs of automobiles have been provided with various forms of cargo or luggage carriers in order to carry luggage in addition to the usual trunk area, and a conventional carrier is of the raised type defining a rectangular fence.

Customarily straps or ropes are used to hold the luggage on the roof and within the fence, but such arrangements are often unsightly and unsatisfactory, and restrict the desire of many people to use them.

The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing sets of complemental cases of a size adapted to substantially fill the fenced area of the raised rail type of carrier, and to be retained therein without the necessity of straps or ropes.

An object of the invention is to provide unique case constructions that are interengaging.

Another object of the invention is to provide sets of cases that interlock with the carrier rails.

Another object of the invention is to provide cases wherein a depressible latching device not only holds the case parts closed, but also has its outer end adapted to engage under a carrier rail to prevent the outer end of a case from raising from a car roof when the car is in motion.

Another object of the invention is to provide cases with pivoted, but readily detachable inner end hinge portions.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide complemental case constructions which will fit in an automobile roof carrier and be carried therein without the necessity of using straps, ropes or the like.

These and other objects will appear in the following specifications and claims, and by reference to the attached drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a motor vehicle having a conventional raised rail type of carrier on the roof thereof, and showing a complete set of casese embodying this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevational view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the parts of one of the cases showing the receptacle portion and the cover portion partially open and disengaged;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the outer end portions of a case showing the cover depressing the latch during closing of the case;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing a closed case being lowered to a position wherein its latch is partially depressed by contact with a carrier rail;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a closed case;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the exterior of the inner end of the receptable portion of a case showing its hinge element and its interengaging elements; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the exterior of the inner end of the receptacle portion of a case showing a modified form of a hinge element.

In the drawings the top or roof 1 of a motor vehicle supports a carrier which consists of a plurality of upright posts 2, which posts in turn support rails 3, 4, 5, and 6. The rails are spaced above the roof and are substantially horizontially disposed and comprise two 3,2ll9,97l Patented Oct. 5, 1965 pairs, with the rails of each pair being in generally parallel relation, that is end rail 3 is generally parallel to end rail 4 and side rail 5 is generally parallel to side rail 6. The rails can be said to define a rectangular fence adapted to provide, together with the roof, a case receiving region or area.

Posts 2 may be secured to the roof by any desired means, and the rails are rigidly attached to the posts.

A typical form of case is illustrated and this consists of a receptacle portion 7 and a mating cover portion 8, together forming a case 9.

Cases 9 may be of different widths and lengths as illustrated in FIG. 1, but the mechanical construction of each case is the same, except for a slight difference in the inner ends, so a detailed description of one case will be sufficient.

The case receptacle 7 has an inner end portion 11 which is provided with a horizontally disposed groove 12, which groove comprises one part of a hinging construction. End portion 11 is also provided with one or more horizontally disposed corrugations 13 which are disposed to interengage with complemental corrugations 14- formed in the inner end of an abutted case as clearly shown in FIG. 2. The location of the complemental corrugations 14, is the only constructional difference between the cases.

Receptacle 7 is also provided with an outer end portion 15 which has the beveled or sloping surfaces 16 and 17. Surface 17 has attached at 18 a spring member 19 which supports, near its free end, a latching device 21 having a beveled nose 22. Surface 17 is provided with an opening 23 within which the latch 21 is depressibly supported by spring 19.

Surface 16 may, if desired, be provided with an attached handle 24, and the receptacle is of course provided with side walls and a bottom and is open at its top.

Cover portion 8 of the case has an inner end wall or portion 25 provided at its lower edge with a horizontally disposed bead hinging part 26 which is adapted to be received in groove 12 of receptacle 7 to form a detachable pivotal connection therewith.

Cover 8 has a sloping outer end wall or portion 27 provided with an opening 28 of a size sufiicient to permit the passage of latch device 21. The degree of slope of the outer end wall 27 of cover 8 is substantially of the same degree as the slope of surface 17 of the outer end wall portion 15 of the receptacle thereby permitting the cover to pivotally close. The cover is of course completed by side walls and a top whereby it may enclose the upper region of the receptacle.

In the modification shown in FIG. 8 the inner end wall or portion 11 of a receptacle is shown as provided with divided grooves 29 which form hinge elements adapted to receive complemental cover hinge bead elements. It is of course obvious that other forms of hinge connections may be used and that they need not be of a readily detachable type.

In operation or usage a receptacle 7 is placed on its bottom and the hinge bead portion 26 of a cover is engaged with the complemental hinge element 12 of the receptacle; the sloping outer end 27 of the cover is then swung down over the complemental sloping surface 17 of the outer end of the receptacle while latch member 21 is being manually depressed inwardly sufficiently to permit the lower edge of end 21 to engage the bevel nose 22 of latch 21, whereupon continued downward swinging of the cover will further depress the latch permitting the cover to lower to a point where the outer end of latch 21 will spring out through opening 28 to lock the cover and receptacle together. The case may be carried and used in the condition just described.

A further feature of my invention, however, is the utility of the described cases in combination with a carrier on top of a motor vehicle and that will now be described.

Two of the closed cases may be placed on the roof of a motor vehicle with their inner ends in abutting and interengaged relation. When the outer end of each case is lowered to its resting place on the roof, the outer end of each latch member 21 may be manually depressed inwardly sufficiently to permit its beveled nose portion to contact a side rail of the carrier, whereupon continued lowering of the outer end of the case will further inwardly depress its latch member until the latch member is positioned below the rail whereupon it will spring out below the rail thereby holding the case against upward movement. The space between the side rails is just suflicient to receive the abutting cases and the rails will hold their interenga ged ends in abutting relationship, so that the cases will remain in position in the carrier without the necessity of using straps or ropes.

In order to remove a case from the carrier, the latch is manually depressed a sufficient distance to clear the rail which permits the outer end of the case to be lifted above the rail, but it should be noted that the two parts of the case will still remain locked together.

The cases can of course be made of different sizes, for example in FIG. 1, cases of different lengths and widths are illustrated, but their principle of interengagement and rail locking is the same. The only difference is that when one case is of a length to extend completely across the carrier, the corrugation 13 or 14 at its inner end will interengage with a side rail instead of with another case.

It should be understood that the drawings and description are illustrative of the preferred embodiment of the invention and that no limitations are intended other than as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with an automobile having a roof and a carrier secured on said roof, in which the carrier includes generally horizontal end and side rails defining a rectangular fence,

a set of complemental cases filling the region bounded by said fence,

said set including a pair of cases having interengaged laterally separable inner end portions preventing vertical relative movement therebetween and having outer end portions disposed in engagement with said rails to maintain the stated interengagement,

and inwardly depressable latch members carried by the outer end portions of said pair of cases and engaged under said side rails.

2. In the combination according to claim 1 wherein the outer end portions of the cases are beveled.

3. In combination with an automobile having a roof and a carrier secured to said roof, in which the carrier includes a pair of rails disposed in spaced, generally parallel relation,

a pair of cases disposed between said rails and resting upon said roof, I

each case comprising a receptacle portion having an inner end and an outer end, and a mating cover portion with the cover portion having depending end and side walls enclosing the upper region of said receptacle portion,

the inner ends of said receptacle portions being provided with complemental surfaces adapted to be interengaged when such inner ends are abutted and there being a spring latch member on the outer end of each of said receptacle portions,

the inner end walls of said cover portions being interengaged with the inner ends of the respective recepta cle portions, and the outer end walls of said cover portions having openings receiving and passing said latch members therethrough,

said rails being spaced apart a distance to sandwich said cases therebetween and maintain said inner ends of the receptacle portions in abutment, and said rails being spaced above said roof a distance to receive said latch members thereunder.

4. In the combination according to claim 3 wherein the interengagement between the inner end walls of said cover portions with the inner ends of the respective receptacle portions is in the form of a pivotal connection.

5. In the combination according to claim 3 wherein the outer end walls of said cover portions are disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to their inner end walls and portions of the outer end of each of said receptacle portions are disposed in complemental relation to said cover outer end walls.

6. In the combination according to claim 3 wherein the outer ends of the receptacle portions are beveled.

7. In combination with an automobile having a roof and a carrier secured on said roof, in which the carrier includes generally horizontal opposed end and side rails defining a rectangular fence,

a set of complemental cases filling the region bounded by said fence,

said set including a case having an inner end portion provided with means to interen-gage with a rail and having an outer end portion disposed in engagement with an opposed rail to maintain the stated interengagement,

and an inwardly depressable latch member carried by the outer end portion of said case and engaged under said opposed rail.

8. In the combination according to claim 7 wherein said case comprises a cover portion and a receptacle portion h-ingedly connected together at the inner end portion thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,664,500 4/28 Bates 29287 3,008,784 11/61 Allard 22442.15

FOREIGN PATENTS 758,220 10/56 Great 'Britain.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Examiner,

umTEu STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3,209,971 October 5, 1965 John L. Goodell It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 1, line 9, for "automatic" read automobile line 13, after "raised" insert rail line 49, for

"casese" read cases 1 Signed and sealed this 19th day of April 1966.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer EDWARD J. BRENNER Commissioner of Patents 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH AN AUTOMOBILE HAVING A ROOF AND A CARRIER SECURED ON SAID ROOF, IN WHICH THE CARRIER INCLUDES GENERALLY HORIZONTAL END AND SIDE RAILS DEFINGING A RECTANGULAR FENCE, A SET COMPLEMENTAL CASES FILLING THE REGION BOUNDED BY SAID FENCE, SAID SET INCLUDING A PAIR OF CASES HAVING INTERENGATGED LATERALLY SEPARABLE INNER END PORTIONS PREVENTING VERTICAL RELATIVE MOVEMENT THEREBETWEEN AND HAVING 